October 1, 2003 Ask the Chef Article

October 1, 2003 ... Ask the Chef ... John Pisto

Q: I would like to do a Boston butt on the Rotisserie. I saw in your column where you said it was unbelievable. I couldn’t find it in the column. Please help.

Jim M.

A: Howdy Jim, help is coming. The cut that I use is the Boston Butt before it is boned out. The only market that sells it with the bone-in is Ralph’s in Seaside. They call it pork shoulder roast.

Basically it is the shoulder and part of the shank. Markets buy it bone-in and use it for sausage and roasts. Personally I think it is one of the most flavorful cuts of pork.
Boston Butt Recipe
I slow roast it for 4 to 5 hours at 250 degrees or on the rotisserie on medium for 4 to 5 hours. Stud it with lots of garlic and season it heavily with Sensational Seasonings, salt, and pepper. Place a pan under the roast as a drip pan filled with chopped onions, chopped bell peppers and sliced boiled potatoes.

The fat from the roast will baste the vegetables. After 4 to 5 hours of cooking time they will be out of this world! The meat should fall off the bone and it will be so juicy and moist that I usually save the shank meat for myself or share it with a fellow food lover. I did this with Sammy Hagar once and he couldn’t believe how delicious it was. Now you’ve got me thinking pork roast! Another recipe was printed last April 2002. Check it out.

Readers: Special thanks to Drew & Myrna Goodman of Earthbound Farms. This past Saturday night I taped a cooking show with Dr. Andrew Weil. This man loves sardines - that’s right folks, sardines. I had met Andy a few times over the years and when I heard he was coming to visit our area, we hooked up. I told him I would cook fresh sardines and anchovies for him and he was very excited. We prepared grilled sardines with cumin and black pepper and fried sardines with red onion, olives, and heirloom tomatoes. Now that’s Italian folks! However, the pasta with sardines was the clear winner. I used the big oval cans from our own Monterey

Fish Company. Andy will definitely be making this one at his home in Tucson, Arizona. Sardines and anchovies, for your information are loaded with Omega 3 and no mercury, making them some of the healthiest fish in the sea. Andy was amazed that the fresh sardines and anchovies have such a rich but non-fishy flavor. I couldn’t wait to share this recipe with you and hope you will try it. Nowadays it’s nice to eat something that’s good for you and also tastes good.

Sardine Pasta Recipe

For 4 to 6 people

1 medium onion chopped

6 garlic cloves chopped

a handful of parsley chopped

Sauté in olive oil. After 5 minutes add 1/2 cup pinenuts, 1/2 cup raisins, a pinch of hot pepper flakes. Add 1-28oz. can of 6 in 1 tomatoes (all crushed up for you). Boil some water, add salt and put in your pasta (1lb. of linguine or 1 lb. of spaghetti). Now add 2 - 15 oz. oval cans of sardines in tomato sauce and carefully blend into the sauce.

Brown 2 cups of unseasoned breadcrumbs in a frying pan. Add salt and pepper, a bit of sugar and a small amount of extra virgin olive oil. Drain pasta add to the sauce and serve, topped with the fried breadcrumbs. If you eat this once a week you will be loaded with Omega -3 in no time. Oh yeah, if you want to add cheese, use some grated Romano.

It was a great Saturday night. It was a blast having a live audience for the cooking show. Especially Mr.& Mrs. Goodman (Earthbound Farms) and kids; head farmer Mark Marino and girlfriend; Tawnee and Mark who flew up just for the taping, Ronny A. and Dina Eastwood, who is a big fan of Doctor Weil. And I can’t forget to mention that soon to be famous harmonica and piano player David Clark. New shows coming, I’ve got commitments from Drew, Myrna and Dina, so stand by folks! Think sardines!

More on last week’s best use of tri-tip. I started giving this a lot of thought. Without a doubt the best bet is to have your butcher slice and tenderize it. It is definitely hot. Make sure he passes it through the tenderizer twice.

Method #1 Dip in egg wash (that means add some water to the beaten egg) then in seasoned flour, and fry baby, fry. Make pan-gravy by adding a bit of flour to make a roux then some milk, chopped green onion, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, that’s it.

Method #2 Flour, egg wash and seasoned cracker meal or bread crumbs. Fry and serve with quartered lemon. Delicious with fresh corn and tomato-cucumber salad.

This use of tri-tip is a big winner - trust me folks. Grove Market uses ball-tip, which is another cut, but will work as well.

Q: Hi John, Yes 2-hour parking for locals would be wonderful. I’d be happy with 5 days a week.

How about going one better, what about the old timers who don’t drive? I’m sure they would love going to the Wharf, maybe Monterey Transit or local taxi could give them a ride home free or reduced rate with their paid receipt from the restaurant. Sincerely, Rose Machado

A: More great ideas, thanks Rosey.

For more info about John Pisto's fine restaurants

in Monterey, California, click here.

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